Kimberly Strassel of the Wall Street Journal editorial page has an interesting piece in today's edition headlined "Life After Daschle." Excerpt:
But what of the bigger ideological battles like judges that united Democrats last time around? No one should fool themselves into thinking that even after Tuesday's blow, Democrats are wise enough to renounce the liberal heavyweights who dominate the agenda, from Hillary Clinton to Ted Kennedy. That Nevada's Harry Reid, a loyal Daschlista, is likely to be elected new leader, suggests the leadership doesn't plan to play nice.
Yet neither should anyone underestimate the psychological power Mr. Daschle's defeat will wield over middle-America Democrats. South Dakota voted Bush by 22 percentage points this week, and Mr. Daschle's demise came precisely because his opponent effectively explained to voters that it was Mr. Daschle who stymied the same president's agenda. That's something to chew on if you are the state's junior senator, Tim Johnson, or Max Baucus of Montana (59% for Bush), or Arkansas's Blanche Lincoln (54%). One of the only Democratic pickups in the Senate this time came via Ken Salazar, who was smart enough to run as a social centrist in Bush-voting Colorado (against "Coors Lite").
The pressure builds on those red-state Senators up for election in 2006. Is New Mexico's Jeff Bingaman going to vote down a Miguel Estrada nomination, with a state home to the largest proportion of Hispanics in the country? Look too for Ben Nelson of Nebraska, Bill Nelson of Florida, and Kent Conrad of North Dakota to be heeding the Ghost of Daschle's Past.
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